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Joystiq Weekly: Titanfall, Thief review, Twitch Plays Pokemon and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. This week's news of a new Tony Hawk game isn't exactly what we were hoping for, but it can't stop us from digging out our old cartridges and discs to revisit the series that made us mount real-life skateboards for the first time. Without the killer soundtracks and a focus on pulling off special moves that progressively got more insane with each entry, we might never have spent hours trying to learn how to ollie. Or earning fresh headaches from trying to drop into half pipes. Or building ramps out of scraps from the garage so we could grind our faces off on the pavement. Thankfully, a revitalization of childhood injury memories isn't the only thing the Joystiq Weekly has in store - news of a Titanfall bundle, reviews of Thief and Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare and a sociological exploration of Twitch Plays Pokemon are also available for your immediate consumption! Dive into this week's biggest moments in gaming right after the break. [Image: Robomodo]
New Nintendo eShop releases: Professor Layton, Renegade
This week on the Nintendo eShop, it's a battle of brains versus brawn, wits versus fists, puzzles versus knuckles. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy debuts on 3DS, putting a bittersweet cap (or top hat, perhaps) on the second Layton trilogy. Our review notes that the series as we know it may have run its course, calling Azran Legacy "as good a way to sign off as could be expected, and the right time to maybe wish the professor a fond farewell." If you prefer less thinking in your video games (and fewer top hats, for that matter), you can pick up Renegade, an NES beat-em-up from the same series as Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom. Just look at the pompadours, they're a dead giveaway. Finally, through March 3, you can snag Knytt Underground on Wii U for $7, half the usual price. [Image: Nintendo]
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy review: Such Sweet Sorrow
Professor Layton games have always been all-consuming, everything-else-on-hold affairs. I vividly remember playing The Curious Village, the first Layton, as I was drudging through a dank November London. It was essentially a collection of puzzles tied together by a story, but on that day, that all-consumed day, the DS game was an umbrella made out of gentlemanly mantras and a scarf woven out of quaint mystery. I was lost to it, to its winking puzzles and the twists and turns of its narrative, and when the dots connected so elegantly at the end, it was like I'd awoken in the hand-drawn sunshine of its European streets. The series has stuck to its groove five games on, and the puzzles still pop up almost rhythmically in the zigzagging country path of the narrative. That said, another day spent with the professor can only feel a bit samey, less sunny by now. The well of puzzles is all but dry in Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, the twists that impressed me years ago feel predictable now, and even a relatively major shift to the formula doesn't fully wow me. It's a testament, then, to the series' sweet, warm personality that throughout my time with Azran Legacy, that little smile that Layton sports matches a little smile on my face. There's enough left here, just about, for one last day in the sun.
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy hits North America Feb. 28
Nintendo has pegged Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, the sixth entry in Level-5's puzzle series, for a February 28, 2014 launch in the US. The news came from this morning's Nintendo Direct presentation. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy revolves around an extinct people known as the Azran. Layton, along with his trusty apprentice Luke, discover a girl frozen in ice who is the last living member of the once-great Azran civilization. This sets the two on a globe-trotting mission in search of artifacts and the truth behind the Azran peoples' downfall.
Professor Layton x Ace Attorney announced for west, due in 2014 [Now with trailer!]
Nintendo announced Professor Layton x Ace Attorney will make its way to the west in 2014. Today's Nintendo Direct confirmed the 3DS game, released in Japan last year, hits North America next year. Nintendo of Europe went one better in its broadcast, dating it "early 2014." The crossover game, which combines Professor Layton's puzzle-solving with Phoneix Wright's cross-examinations, is not the only Layton game coming to North America next year. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, the sixth and (currently) final main entry in the Layton series, will join it on 3DS sometime next year. However, Europe can chalk another early arrival over North America; the game is now dated to hits retail shelves and eShops over there on November 8.
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy visits EU this year, NA 2014
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is coming to Europe this year, but North America won't see it arrive until 2014. The news comes via this morning's Nintendo Direct which revealed the schedule for the sixth Layton entry's 3DS world tour, the Level-5 puzzler having already come to Japan on February 28. Nintendo of America says the new Layton crams a whopping 500-plus puzzles underneath its top hat.
